Diving coach Trevor Palmatier handed conditional sentence for sexual exploitation
B.C. coach, who was arrested in Edmonton in 2013, will be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest
Former Olympic and national-level diving coach Trevor Palmatier will serve a conditional sentence after being found guilty on three sexual exploitation charges relating to incidents with a teenager.
The B.C. diving coach's sentence will be served on two-year house arrest and includes three years probation.
The victim's name is under a publication ban. The offences took place at Palmatier's Saanich residence between June of 2003 and June of 2006.
Palmatier was head coach of Boardworks Diving club at Saanich Commonwealth Place pool at the time of the incidents.
He had previously coached in Vancouver. He left Victoria in 2007 and began coaching diving in Edmonton where he was arrested in 2013.
Palmatier coached a number of Olympic and international level divers and was named Sport B.C. coach of the year in 2006. In 2013, he was banned from coaching diving in Canada.
The judge decided Palmatier's risk to re-offend was low if he was allowed to serve his sentence in the community.
He is ordered to stay away from pools, playgrounds and other places where young people are, and he must complete group therapy for sex offenders.
On Oct. 15, 2015, Palmatier, then 43, was found guilty on one count each of sexual touching of a young person, invitation to touch the body of a sex-trade worker while in a position of trust, and paying a minor for sexual services. The victim was between the ages of 15 and 18 when the offences occurred.
At the time of the guilty verdict Justice J.A. Power noted that Palmatier was in a position of authority, and that lead up interactions to the offences — including introducing sex talk and pornography into his relationship with the victim — could be considered "grooming activity".
At one point Palmatier hired a female sex worker to prove to the the victim that he was not gay. Palmatier also gave the victim large sums of money, as much as $1,000 at one point, after some of the activities.
Palmatier can seek permission to serve his sentence in Alberta.
With files from Megan Thomas